Off The Shelf By Doug Holder

Jessa Piaia is a Somerville resident who enjoys being in someone else’s shoes, not to mention dress, bonnet, the full gamut of period garb. Piaia has made a career of portraying famous and not so famous trail-blazing women.

Paia, a resident of the Union Square, has inhabited the persona of such historically significant women as Amelia Earhart, Susan B. Anthony and Rachel Revere, to name a few. She performs around the state and the country and has appeared in such Somerville venues as The Somerville Museum, the West Branch Library in Davis Square, as well as the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.

  On Saturday, Aug 11, at 2 p.m., Piaia will portray Susanna Haswell Rowson at the Longfellow House at 105 Brattle St. in Cambridge. Rowson founded The Academy of Young Ladies, a liberal arts academy for women, in downtown Boston in 1797, wrote many novels, plays and penned the official eulogy for George Washington in 1800.

Piaia said that wearing the period clothing of her subject transforms her, putting her in the “skin” of her characters. Piaia recently moved to the area with her partner Lee Kidd, founder of Cambridge’s Squawk Coffeehouse.

After her performance at the Longfellow House, Piaia will be selling a book by Rowson: titled “Slaves in Algiers.” It is a three-act play, still in print after all these years.

Piaia has a busy schedule ahead of her. She will be showcasing her talents at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, the Webster Estate in Marshfield and the Helen Sleeper estate in Gloucester. To keep tabs on Piaia visit her Web site at www.womeninhisoryprograms.com

Ibbetson Street Press is pleased to announce the 2nd annual Ibbetson Street Poetry Award Contest. The winner of the contest must be a Massachusetts resident, will receive a $100 cash award, a framed certificate, publication in the literary journal Ibbetson Street and will be featured in "The Lyrical Somerville," The Somerville  News weekly poetry column.

To enter send, three to five poems, any genre or length, to :Doug Holder at 25 School St., Somerville, Mass. 02143.

Entry fee is $10. Cash or check only. Make payable to Ibbetson Street Press or Doug Holder. The deadline is Sept. 15. The contest will be judged by Richard Wilhelm, Somerville poet and writer. The winner will be announced at the The Somerville News Writers Festival, ( Nov. 11) and will receive his or her award. A runner up will be announced as well.